The present invention relates to application of a plastic film around an item and, more specifically, relates to a method for medical and/or athletic wrapping of a body part with a plastic stretch film.
Often, it is desirable to wrap a body part of an individual with a plastic stretch film. Such wrapping can be, for example, to secure an ice pack to a wounded area, to strengthen and/or immobilize a joint, or to wrap the laces of the shoes of an athletic participant to ensure that loose shoe laces do not hinder the performance of the athlete.
One such device that is used to dispense such film is disclosed in Parry et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,722,493 and Parry et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,872,623. This device inserts a special handle into a roll of film, the interior of said handle rotating with the roll of film. By exerting a gripping pressure on the exterior of the handle, friction is applied to the rotating interior of the handle which then is used to adjust the rate of dispensing of the film from the roll.
Other patents also have been issued for devices that provide braking novelties to control the speed of the roll as the wrap is being applied to the item. These devices also generally have an additional handle or other such item insertable into the core of the roll to enable one to grip a handle while still allowing for the rotation of the core and the roll while applying the wrap to an item. Some such devices are provided that are inserted into both sides of a roll to enable two hands to control the film as it is being wrapped around, for example, a very large item. Examples of these devices are found in Parry U.S. Pat. No. 4,179,081; Parry U.S. Pat. No. 4,530,473; Parry et al U.S. Pat. No. 5,203,517; Parry U.S. Pat. No. 4,248,392; and Strout et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,522,348.
These devices may work well when wrapping large items or items for shipment in commerce. However, there exists a need for such a device to apply plastic film in a medical or athletic wrapping application. Such prior art devices are unwieldy and cumbersome when such plastic film is to be wrapped around a body part, for example, to secure an ice pack to an injured area, or to wrap the shoelaces of an athlete's shoe. With such a device, there is a certain amount of stressful and deleterious torque placed on the wrist of the user, the handle assembly adds unnecessary weight to the device, twisting and binding is encountered when wrapping the body part, the tension of the film and the speed at which the film is wrapped is only indirectly controlled by pressure on the handle, when transferring the device between hands, one hand is necessarily in the location that the other hand must grasp--thus interfering with the transfer, and such device can be cumbersome and unwieldy when trying to wrap a body part.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide a roll of sheet material for use in medical and athletic wrapping of human body parts that may be easily maneuvered by one hand of an attendant to encircle the body part for which the wrapping is desired without needing or using any special or additional devices. It is further desirable to provide such a roll with sufficiently limited dimensions that it would easily fit into a hand and may be transferred from hand to hand as the wrapping of the body part occurs.